Happy Saturday, everyone! It’s a very big day for just one person in the Big Brother house today: Michelle. It’s too bad she doesn’t realize just how important it is, and she may not until it’s too late.

Look, Michelle and I go way back all the way to the beginning of the summer. We’ve had an up and down relationship – mostly down – but I’m actually kind of sad that she is probably leaving this week. Ever since she realized she was actually playing the game and flipped the house on it’s head, we’ve mended relationships and are kind of best friends now. She may not actually know who I am, but that doesn’t change our relationship. She’s kind of mean, kind of annoying, and kind of funny… and without her efforts, we’d likely still be watching a shirtless Paulie acting like he owns the house. This makes me hope she pulls something off today in order to keep shaking things up, because I literally may cry if the final 4 consists of Corey, Nicole, James and Natalie.

Victor and Paul have been doing a pretty good job building a relationship with the blonde boremance (we’ll just pretend Corey is super dirty blonde), which means if Michelle wins, there is a very good chance that Nicole may actually replace her with either Natalie or James. There is also a chance that Victor could be the replacement nom, and he’d likely end up walking out the door – again, so maybe it’s not a good idea for her to win.

Alright, time for some updates…

11:00am – James and Nat are sleeping while Paul is talking away to anyone who will listen in the kitchen. Man can that guy talk. I gotta say, being the quiet guy in the room, I envy people like that. Not only does he talk a lot, but the stuff he is saying is actually interesting almost all the time.

Paul is talking philosophy with the group (I believe that was his major). He poses an interesting question, and I’m curious to hear what people think. There is no right or wrong, it’s a moral dilemma situation.

You’re a doctor with 6 patients. 5 of them are suffering from terminal illnesses and need transplants immediately or will die (all different body parts). The 6th patient is perfectly healthy and just in for a checkup. In the checkup, you notice he has the 5 perfectly matched parts from each patient, but in order to save the 5, you’d have to secretly kill the healthy 1. Nobody would know, and also all 6 patients are completely equal (so no ‘well, if the healthy guy was a jerk..’). Would you kill the 1 to save the 5 or no? Not a trick question, just a moral dillema. What would you do?

He then poses a different scenario…

You’re a train conductor and there are 5 people tied to the tracks and you’re bound to run them over. You notice there is a fork in the tracks and you can pull the lever, but you’ll go down the track with 1 person on it who will die. Do you pull the lever and save 5 people and kill the 1, or no?

Then when you realize it’s essentially the same situation, yet phrased differently, your brain explodes.

Paul explains the difference is that mentally, it’s easier to pull the lever to save 5 lives (and kill 1), than to push the button and kill 1 (to save 5).

I don’t mean to steal your thunder Kari B, but I wanted to highlight your question from the comment section.

[poll id=”26″]

Continued on with Paul’s philosophy question…

Third scenario… You’re in charge of the brakes on a train. You get drunk, do whatever, screw up and completely forget to put them on and sleep in. You wake up with enough time to make it to tracks to see that train has 50 people in it heading toward a wall. A large man is on a bridge overlooking the tracks and watching the train. You know if you push him over, he is large enough to slow the train to a halt and save those lives. Do you kill the man to save the 50, or let the train continue on knowing you’re the reason the train is going to crash?

Damn, these questions are crazy when they build up

11:30am – Victor and Paul are just hanging out in the kitchen talking casually now

12:00pm – I realized I was 30 minutes behind when the feeds went down. Clicked live, and Paul/Corey studying memory wall. They think it’s going to be the comic book competition today. If so, it will be a long one

12:35pm – Paul and Victor are talking in the safari room

Paul and Victor are talking about James’ comments a few days ago about this not being his first rodeo and how he’s played with some of the best players. They’re like “No he hasn’t”

1:00pm – Not much changed. People sleeping and others waiting for veto. Doing a few errands during this slow period.

2:10pm – Back, just in time for the feeds to go down. Comp time? Could be a long one

4:00pm – Feeds still down for the veto competition

4:20pm – Feeds back

Nicole won the Power of Veto

How much do you want to bet this will be Natalie’s Halloween outfit?

Paul is going to pitch an idea for Corey to bribe Nicole to take him off the block. He knows it’s unlikely, but it’s an idea to exploit to loophole for the money to stay in the hands of the boremance while keeping him safe in the process.

4:45pm – Nicole, Corey and Victor are up in the HoH discussing the competition. It was the counting comp where they stay/fold

Immediately after he leaves, they discuss the possibility of getting one of them out, but they scratch that idea and say they’re sticking with Paul/Victor for now

Now they’re talking again why Corey won the care package. Corey says something smart that there is no way they gave it to him for the next HoH because they probably didn’t expect it to last that long.

Nicole is back to explaining the care package to him, and honestly I don’t know what the hell they’re arguing about. It’s like two different things. She is explaining how you have to keep your word with the agreement, so if you offer someone safety, you have to keep that somehow. Corey is saying he can tell someone they are safe and send them home.

I don’t think he fully understands what the card means, and she is doing a poor job explaining it.

She gives him an example. If he tells her “Nicole if you drop down right now, I guarantee safety”. Corey would have to keep that guarantee. Corey says “But it’s not $5k and safety” Jesus

Corey “where are you even getting the safety from” .. HER EXAMPLE TO YOU.

Nicole “You have to do whatever you say” (regarding the agreement)

Corey “No, you have to do whatever I say” (yes Corey.. you’re both right! It merely depends on the deal made)

Corey “I don’t have to do whatever I say, besides give them the $5k” (No Corey, if you tell them something, you have to do it)

Nicole “You don’t understand what I’m saying” Corey “I do understand”

Nicole “Why does it say you have to keep your word?” Corey “YOU have to keep your word” Nicole continues “It said the bidder and the other person have to keep their word”

They make a $5k bet on it

He goes to get the card to check

Corey reads “It is a binding contract between the briber and bribee. Any houseguest that accepts the bribe must perform the action they have promised”. Jesus Corey. Yes, but they have to agree to whatever you are demandind, which also has to be upheld.

Corey continues “I can get someone to do whatever I want. It doesn’t say safety”

Nicole “So if you promise safety, you don’t have to hold up to that?” Corey “Where are you getting safety from? This is $5k!”

Seriously this is like Abbot and Costello “Who is on first! I’m asking YOU who’s on first. That’s the man’s name. That’s who’s name?”

Nicole “I’m not paying you $5k. I had my toes crossed” (and because you’re right, sort of. Corey can’t promise safety because that’s not a promise he can make)

5:00pm – Corey goes down to retell the story to the kitchen.

Now everyone is confused by this damn bribe. Hopefully the DR clears it up.. Corey can’t promise anything he can’t deliver.

Man, now the conversation turns to Honey Boo Boo and everyone is confused because I think James said the show got canceled because she (meaning the money) was dating a creep dude. Everyone is like “The 7 year old was dating an old guy?? What??”

Natalie “Wow that’s scary… I love that show. I only watched 1 episode, but I loved it”

Michelle mentions how one of the girls was pregnant (the kid’s sister) and Victor jumps in “The pageant girl???” This house is crazy tonight.

I ran to Burger King earlier because I eat real awesome when the wife is out of town, and they gave me the wrong sandwich. Was it a good mistake? No. It was bread, meat (?), cheese and bacon. No ketchup, mayo, or any of that stuff.

Of the ones left, Vic and Paul are still my choices for best game players and the ones I hope make it to the end. The rest of them are lazy, coat-tail riders show/nomances who don’t deserve (game-wise) a dime. So it will be nice if Michelle leaves.

Exactly. You should never let anyone else run your HOH. Michelle’s first instinct was to put up Tickole and then she let Gnat have her way by putting up Bunyan.
Yeah, give I give the girl some credit for Paulie’s eviction, but I think most of it should go to Vic…I loved the way he handled the whole situation without all the tears and drama that comes with Michelle.

Bingo! Michelle totally wasted her co-HOH by allowing Natalie to determine the second nominee and, to me at least, that is enough reason for her to be on the block. However, it is highly unlikely that the results would have been any different with Nicole/Victor on the block than Corey/Victor because either way James was the deciding vote and he wasn’t about to make the move necessary to split up the other shomance. To my mind James unwillingness to do the necessary last week (evict Corey) is as bigger mistake then Michelle throwing away her co-HOH and quite possibly may cost him the game. I’m not sad because I think James has wasted the entire season chasing Natalie and waiting to see how the house votes before making a move.

I only want her to stay if she wins the POV and Nicole has the backbone to put either Natalie or James up as her replacement (because either one would be evicted). Otherwise Michelle can pack it up and head to the jury house.

I agree Paul can talk and is very interesting. I was listening when he was talking about giving a homeless man bread and then he chokes on the bread, then are you responsible since you gave him the bread?

I agree with you about Michelle I think she’s a mean girl so it’s easy to not like her. BUT the game wouldn’t be what it is if she hadn’t flipped everything. I am loving the situation in the house changing every few days. I want someone to win today that will change noms just to jumble things up again!

I disagree that scenario 1 and 2 are the same. In 1, you have to kill 1 to save 5. In No. 2, you have to put one at risk to save 5 ( you didn’t say the one was tied to the track so perhaps there are interventions that could keep that one alive. No. 3 is more like 1 in that your action causes a death. Is taking an action that kills the same as not taking an action that kills? In the billions and billions of interactions (from molecules to galaxies) every second in the universe in which we live, are we responsible for not taking an action?

If Michelle succeeds at taking herself off the block, decisions will become more of a bumpy road for the HoH. Corey said to Nicole that he’d rather see Natalie gone than Michelle. Nicole disagrees, but this already hints that Natalie is her renom choice IF Paul is saved. The stated hope is that Victor wins the Veto and saves Paul.

Whoever wins Veto this time is also safe from nomination, as we know. Nicole will have to show her cards if Michelle saves herself. Does she nominate her new ally, Victor, blowing him and Paul up again? Or does she put up Natalie and dismay James? Nicole has said nothing about nominating James – despite the fact that she has the votes to evict him and that he poses more of a comp threat than either Natalie or Michelle.

Nicole feels that she can influence James to think as she wants him to think. If she does need to nominate Natalie, she’ll give James every reason not to fret over it. And if James wins Veto, Nicole will convince him to leave Paul and Michelle on the block by telling him Paul is going. But would James buy that? Wouldn’t he take Michelle down and try to insist that Victor and Paul need to be the noms?

I think Nicole and James relationship outside the house (they know and have visited each other’s families) play more strongly in both their decisions then they are letting on. This is yet another good, in my opinion, reason not to bring back previous players. With thousands apply every season there are plenty of people who would be as interesting as those they bring back.

Actually more interesting. I have not been impressed with returning players among the new players. I cannot bring myself to root for either Nicole or James. They are both disappointing and I have found myself not watching as much as if the season had been all new players.

I totally agree that the four returnees were poor choices. I’ve heard rumbling (but can’t confirm) that Tiffany and Paulie were only selected after Vanessa and Cody refused the opportunity to return. If true it certainly makes sense since Vanessa was 3rd during her season and Cody was 2nd during his. And both stronger (and better) players than James, Nicole, Frank and DaVonne.

Fun scenario’s but the big caveat is your just ta’king No one really die Things change when your adrenaline is pumping Your mind is going a million miles a secant You dont have a lot of time to think Hypothetical like that are not always a true example of what people will do A classroom is much different than real life
Back to the game If Paul and Vic survive this week it sets up a fun week . We are left with 3 couples HoH now is big Each pair has stabbed the others in the back No one is without guilt Each pair must decide who on the other team do you want as a final 3
This is when I laugh when I hear players talk of honesty and integrity ( a great drinking game take a shot when you hear them said Chose teams Chose a word Drink up ) You can see players in the goodbye videos trying to line up jury votes

So I have been reading comments lately trashing Bunyan for his “colorful” language. I am not a big fan of it, but I still think it’s not as bad as doing the nasty (Nicole/Corey) on camera for all the world to see. Geez, there have been lots of showmances, but few are disgusting enough to actually be doing it in the house. They are no better than Austin and Liz last year.
Do they realize that their gross behavior is being seen by their families and will forever be on YouTube?
Big brother porn stars…I think that’s way worse than any F-bombs or c-words.
Ewwwww…

I haven’t actually seen Nicole and Corey getting busy (thank God) but last night towards the end of BBAD, Corey literally got on top of Nicole in the HOH bed and they started rustling around under the covers. Mercifully, just before I began to heave, the BBAD gods switched the feed to James burning hamburgers in the kitchen. So, whatever it was they were doing under there, I would have to agree with Jannie that it was likely much more inappropriate than any language Paul has used this summer.

I couldn’t agree more.. I also believe the reason Nicole’s letter from her mom was about two sentences long is because she must be so proud of her daughter becoming a laughable pornography star with a guy who obviously hasn’t come out of the closet yet, for whatever reason… Do people not remember ALL the comments he made, especially before he realized the live feeds were up n running and everything he was saying was caught on camera..(i.e. for example- what a good looking guy Victor was. His hair is just so shiny n beautiful.. Or what a handsome man Paulie was and just look at his body… His major flirtation with Jose, to which Jose said Corey is as gay as he is… ) Trust me nothing is wrong with being gay- Infact I feel bad he hasn’t just come out and enjoy his life by being REAL.. Although I must say (especially after some of the conversations he’s had n the most recent with him not understanding how the CP he won works) the dude is dumber then a box of rocks.. Plus he said he’d be livid if Natalie were to win bb cuz she hasn’t done one thing in the game… Really? Dude needs to look in the mirror cuz outta EVERYONE he hasn’t done anything, couldn’t even make his own noms during double eviction.. Was begging, almost in tears, for the rest of the guys to “please tell him what to do” ugggghhhh..SMDH

OK, here is the second part of each of Paul’s questions. 1) the person with the healthy body parts is the doctor’s wife who he loves very much, 2) the person on the railroad track who would die to prevent the other deaths is the engineer’s only son who he loves very much and 3) the heavy guy on the bridge who could slow the train is the father of the mechanic who would have to push him off and who the mechanic loves very much. Would this additional information change any of your answers (minds) as to how you would (should or could) resolve the problem of a moral dilemma? We used to get “problems” like these in defense law classes.

Nat keeps saying how she knew nothing of the game when she came in. Yet she talks about former house guest in past seasons . First it was just make it to jury Than win HoH She knew enough to lay low use James as a shield I think she knows a lot about the game Another super fan? In keeping with the theam of 2

I don’t know why anyone’s minds are blown with Paul’s scenarios. I think Paul is one of those people that tries really hard to make people think he is smart. I’m not impressed. The doctor and train scenario are not the same thing. One (doctor scenario) is literally murdering someone to help 5 others live. The train scenario is picking the lesser pain/impact – as people die in either scenario. It’s stupid and as pointless as asking if you’d sleep with someone for a million bucks.
Side note…I liked Paul up until he acted like a baby last week when he and Vic were put on the block. It’s a game. Everyone is lying. And everyone is a hypocrite.
Suck it up buttercup.

These are case studies and did not originate with Paul. They’ve been around for years and with a few slight variations are used in a number of different courses of study. I got most of them in and advanced criminology classe more than 10 years ago. There.are quite similar morality problems used in an old PBS multi-part morals and ethics documentary that I believe, are available on DVD. They are quite commonly used and are rather generic. I’ve never felt Paul was acting like a baby but simply acting to change the direction and/or tone of the game – part of the persona he developed to control situations or might be used to throw someone off balance.

I agree with you Steve about Michelle. I’ve grown to root for her, despite her crying, because she woke up and shook up the game. I’m definitely rooting for her over the showmances. As far as who I think deserves to win my final 3 would be Victor, Paul and Michelle.

I think it’s unfair the way Nicole’s Season 16 is being portrayed. I agree that this season’s performance has been disappointingly pathetic and she’s had her victories handed to her. However, in Season 16 she actually won HOH comps and it’s flawed logic to say that those comps don’t count because of the BOTB dethroning. Not only did she legitimately win, but she also nominated contestants that were strong enough competitors to take themselves off the block.

I liked Nicole in Season 16, because she was new. She rocked the frog and germitard costumes (probably why folks voted for her to wear the safety suit). She was unassuming, a local girl to the big city. She was goofy and fun to watch. Once these houseguests have been on the show, the novelty has worn off, and I just don’t find them captivating the second time around.

Veto comp underway. Houseguests spent the day with more studying for a mental comp and telling each other whatever each other would want to hear. For example, Nicole was telling Victor that she and Corey were all alone last week, leaving out the part when she, Corey, James and Natalie were aligned and gloating about becoming the final four. Such is the ethics of deceit within BB, the social experiment.

I hope Meech
goes because she probably wouldn’t be in this boat had she had balls last week when she was Co-HOH. She wanted to put up Nicole but, of course, she didn’t have the guts.So deal with your mess up girlie. I myself hope Vic wins he has busted butt to get back in Twice!

If they do I think they (Nicorey) will lose. Corey will be the first of the four to go and unless Nicole is the final HOH James will take Natalie (and Natalie will take James) to the finale. If Nicole doesn’t split up James and Natalie now I think she’s throwing away her game. James won’t risk going against Nicole with the jury (but could probably beat her) but thinks Natalie would be less risky (which I doubt with the “girl power” on the jury that might support her but might not have supported Nicole).

Ok, so this is my first time to comment. I have been reading the site for the last couple of weeks and really enjoy the comments. I just had to comment on Corey and Nicole because they are two of the dumbest house guest I have ever watched and I have bee a BB watcher since the beginning. If they think keeping Paul and Victor is good for their game, I have some oceanfront property here in Oklahoma I would like to sell them!

I think at least Nicole thinks she has a better chance with the jury if she isn’t standing next to James or even Natalie. Victor and Paul haven’t seemed to have built support among the jurors but I think either could beat Nicole because several of the women jurors seem to dislike her quite a bit. Corey is going to go along with Nicole as far as who to evict so, like James & Natalie, they will vote as a pair as long as both are in the house.

I’m disappointed in James and Nicole this season. She’s SO into Corey it’s sickening and james is too much into Michelle and playing jokes. )Also, I wish people would quit saying they were on last year they were on two years ago.)
As much as I really didn’t like them at the beginning of the season I’m actually pulling for Paul and Victor to be the final two. I’m impressed that Victor won his way back in TWICE!! I also like his attitude when he was evicted especially the last time.
Now when it comes to PAULIE…..I am SO glad he is in the jury house and that he got greeted the way he did by the girls, especially Z calling him a bitch. He’s a sore loser. He and Cody are VERY different. He came back last Thursday and even seemed to have an attitude at the battle back. So glad he did not win. I REALLY DO NOT LIKE HIM AT ALL.
I’ve been very quiet this season. I’m not doing well health wise so I’ve just been quiet.
I’ve been keeping up with the show but I’m not as interested in these people in the house this year.

Corey is getting the frat boy edit by CBS and, with Paulie turning out to be such a jerk, Corey’s star shines brighter than it probably would under normal circumstances. Also gotta remember Corey just pulled off a week of being a good sport wearing the silly patriot costume. It’s late in the game with few remaining eligible for the care package so Corey won it by default.

@franko– you’re so right, the players are better off not having to contend with Paulie’s anger/unhappiness. It’s such a relief that he is gone for me, too. He seemed too close to snapping. Victor is a good sport, fine player and a gentleman. Quite a contrast.

I must say, I love your description of the Nic/Corey conversation. I can actually picture them as A&C doing “Who’s on First” lol!

I also want to thank you for this site. I used to be a feeder for another one for quite a few years (I stopped helping them about 2 years ago) and found you about two-three weeks into this season. I ♥ your updates!